


Guide to Getting Your Idol to Notice You

by adalheidis



Category: X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: Best Friends, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Idols, Jealousy, M/M, Mutual Pining, Stupidity, everything about this is stupid, hangyul is a normal dude who blows up for being stupid, seungwoo does not approve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:34:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23249320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adalheidis/pseuds/adalheidis
Summary: Step 1: study him religiouslyStep 2: service him religiouslyStep 3: become him... religiously(?)Step 4: follow him religiouslyStep 5: worship him RELIGIOUSLY
Relationships: Kim Yohan/Lee Hangyul
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

1

Probably the most prestigious drama a breakout actor could participate in is one part of the  _ School  _ series, so when news broke out that production was looking for a male lead to act in the newest season, Yohan’s management jumped the gun. Yohan wouldn’t say that he was unhappy with the decision, it was just that arriving at the audition site, he felt there was something wrong- or that he was doing something wrong. 

Auditions usually have a prewritten script for him to act out and determine his potential from, however, Yohan had been met with questions about his every piece of personal information from his feelings towards taekwondo to what color socks he wore on his first day as a high school student. Obviously no one would remember such a specific fact but Yohan answered anyways out of pressure so now there’s a written record stating that he wore neon socks to school on his first day as a high school student.

But he got considered for the role and made his name so big that his share of fans and idol friends increased by a factor of a million.

Yohan is just coming home from a day of pre-reading the script, which he admits left him fidgeting restlessly on his seat. Yohan has respect for his screenwriters, but anyone would be a tiny bit weirded out by reading a literal autobiography of themself, he thinks?

Blindly, Yohan hangs up his coat on the closest chair- one that was probably already piling up with other coats he blindly hung up the previous week- he sees when he walks into his apartment. Disappointedly, there is a slight feeling of emptiness that fills him when he realizes all of his fans and idol friends and coworkers mean nothing when he has no one to welcome him home. 

_ Ah  _ , is he crying?

No, he’s just so drained from work that his eyes have puffed up like pufferfish.

Yohan decides that he’ll just go to sleep because he’s so tired, not like there is anyone to nag at him for being dirty. He makes the mental promise that he’ll take a shower when he wakes up.

And right when Yohan has decided that he better put an end to his day, his phone dings with a notification. Who else would think it’s a good idea to send messages at 3:00 in the morning other than his Seungyoun hyung? Seungyoun, although they were from different companies, helped produce Yohan’s debut album and asked for the rookie star’s phone number in case of emergency. How Yohan regretted agreeing to hand it over.

The night truly changes quickly. Just a moment ago, Yohan had felt lonely and in need of company, but now he’d rather not have any distractions from acquaintances. 

With one glance at the message, Yohan immediately groans in despair. Why, oh why would Seungyoun torment him like this? 

Pressing the voice recording microphone- because people who sent him trash messages did not deserve his holy fingers taking the time to type down letters and letters of coherent words- Yohan yells, “Hey, throw yourself off a cliff, will you? You little cunt!” and the words echo off the walls of his empty room.

He awkwardly waits until he’s sure no old lady will come knocking on his door complaining about noise pollution before scowling at the picture of Seungyoun and a pageboy making goofy faces at each other in Seungyoun’s recording studio. The phone is tossed onto the hard floor and Yohan swiftly turns to tuck himself straight to sleep. If he had spent a good hour yelling into his pillow in frustration before actually falling into the state between dream and awareness, no one needs to know.

If Yohan wanted to, he’d look back in time and remember when he wasn’t as famed as he is now. The amount of fans he had could be counted with his fingers because there was really only one person who had faith in him. The same person currently spending his night over at famous producer Woodz’s studio drinking coffee used to look at Yohan with stars in his eyes because Yohan was the only “celebrity” he knew.

Ah who was he kidding? Hangyul, Yohan’s best friend, was always a social butterfly. Yohan was not going to be angry at Hangyul for surpassing Yohan in popularity amongst idols, no, Yohan would not be that selfish. Yohan wouldn’t let his self-esteem be hurt, he was a mature adult. Yohan doesn’t hate Hangyul.

Yohan only hates annoying people who post stupid instagram stories at 3:00 A.M.

* * *

2

Maybe Yohan forgot to mention that one major reason why he was so sour when he went to bed alone that one night was because Hangyul was always there to accompany him before. They were that close. They were the best of best friends. Even though the two of them weren’t even roommates, Hangyul said that he liked the amount of space Yohan’s apartment had for him to work until his bones would wear out and he’d fall asleep on the carpet of Yohan’s room.

Who was Yohan to care about what happened to Hangyul? Hangyul could crash other idols’ apartments if he wanted to.

A sleepy Yohan equals to a dumb Yohan. Like every normal morning, Yohan’s body forces himself awake by habit but his muddled mind doesn’t actually process what is happening. So in the mornings, Yohan never really knows how to navigate where he should go.

In confusion, Yohan runs a lap around his entire apartment before stopping to yell into the shower head, “Hangyul? Are you in there?”

Hangyul? Ah, yes! His apartment is missing, Hangyul! Where is that boy?

Oh, Yohan. How could he forget that Hangyul didn’t come over the day before?

A familiar sound begins to ring through Yohan’s apartment and he stumbles his way back to his bed to find his ringing phone. When he unlocks the phone, there’s a notification from the one person on his mind and the widest smile spreads across his face. Hangyul is thinking about him too.

Except there’s a video message and an uncomfortably familiar person on the thumbnail. There’s no way that Hangyul had grown fond of an idol, right? Hangyul only ever sends him videos of pandas rolling around, not of people.

Lee Suwoong, that is who the familiar idol is. A renowned actor who received the applause of the entire country for the shortest cameo in Partners for Justice.

Yohan presses the play button with a frown on his face and a weight on his chest.

“Hello,” the man greets warmly, “Hangyul slept with me last night-”

Water comes spewing out of Yohan’s mouth, probably because the shower head Yohan was talking to earlier was turned on- point is that there’s water in Yohan’s mouth and he has to spit it out in shock. 

“Hangyul slept with me last night and because you seem to be his most important contact, I thought it’d only be polite to inform you about his whereabouts. I woke him up by holding him and shaking him lightly, no loud alarms or anything. In case you were worried, he’s being well taken care of.”

Then Yohan realizes that Hangyul wakes Yohan up by patting his face gently so that Yohan doesn’t wake up in a state of confusion- the way he had that morning. Maybe Yohan also forgot to mention that he kind of needed Hangyul to be at his place because Hangyul was tasked with waking Yohan up every day.

Immediately, a pop-up notification appears on Yohan’s phone again. And Hangyul is there. In that exact room that Suwoong had been in. Suwoong wasn’t lying.

It’s a three second video that leaves Yohan with a bitter taste in his mouth. A three second video of Hangyul looking absolutely adorable, sitting in the middle of a floor whining the name, “Suwoong- Yohan? Is that Yohan?”

Yohan notes to himself that his name definitely sounds better coming out of Hangyul’s mouth than Suwoong’s does. 

Hangyul’s frantic voice continues to come out from the video, but Yohan is busy replaying the opening of the video. One to chuckle at how Hangyul moves up to the recorder at such an unflattering angle that the only features Yohan can really see are Hangyul’s nostrils and his mouth. Two to realize that Hangyul still looks handsome.

“Yohan-ah? You have to wake up now! You have a schedule to attend at 9:30!”

Hangyul and Suwoong both end up coming around and driving Yohan to where he has to be- albeit 30 minutes late. Yohan’s own manager was ghosting his calls and he deserved that completely. 

Still, Yohan can bear to smile smugly when he slides into the passenger seat while Suwoong stays in the back.

When Yohan gets dropped off, Hangyul hands Yohan a bag containing a bottle of tea and his dreaded  _ School 2020  _ script. 

Wait, what?

If Yohan and Hangyul had spent the night apart, how could Hangyul have already had Yohan’s script in hand? 

Unless… it wasn’t his.

The final actors for the series were not finalized so if another actor one day wanted to barge in and steal the lead role out of Yohan’s hands, they could absolutely do it. So perhaps Yohan had been fine with Hangyul laying over at other idol friends’ flats but not if those idols would try to project a bad influence on Hangyul just to poke at Yohan’s nerves.

If Suwoong and Yohan were not rivals competing for position as Hangyul’s best friend, then they were rivals competing for the lead role of  _ School 2020  _ .

* * *

3

Yohan is sleeping on his couch with his eyes open on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Hangyul is just lounging around inside Yohan’s apartment- back where he should be. Everything is a little bit back to normal. Yohan fixates his eyes on the moving Hangyul and watches amusedly as Hangyul’s nose slightly scrunches up and down while he sniffs around like a bunny.

“What’s up? What do you smell, Hangyul?”

The way Hangyul stares straight into Yohan’s soul with glittering eyes and nonchalantly says that “it smells like you” sends Yohan’s heart into a seizure.

“Smells good?” Yohan questions genuinely, rubbing a hand on his neck.

“It smells like garbage.”

Way to break a heart.

Yohan dramatically rolls off the couch and collapses to the ground in pain while Hangyul steps over his pitiful body. Yohan tilts up to catch Hangyul picking up the various pieces of clothing strewn around the living room floor and neatly folding them over his arm.

Before Yohan can open his mouth to question, Hangyul already answers, “I’m taking these to the laundry.”

Scrambling up from his position on the ground, Yohan wraps his arms around Hangyul to block the other’s path, quickly declining, “No, no. You don’t have to.”

Hangyul just offers an apathetic eyebrow, “If I don’t, I’m going to come back next week to see these clothes in the same spot, or actually,” Hangyul raises his voice, “how about I don’t visit you for an entire week to see what happens?”

In horror, Yohan shakes his head and just agrees with what Hangyul says. Never again. Since when did Yohan become so dependent on Hangyul’s existence?

“That’s what I thought,” Hangyul continues to pick up random littered garments around the room with a gentle smile on his face.

In his silent observance, Yohan witnesses Hangyul stop in front of a dirty pair of boxers, lift it up to his nose, and inhale the scent. A small part of Yohan wants to question what on earth is wrong with his best friend and the other wants to shove Hangyul’s face into the underwear and completely imprint Hangyul with his scent. What? What on earth was wrong with himself?

The second stop that Hangyul takes is right in front of Yohan’s chair that is piling with designer coats. And like a hurricane, 155 wind speed emotions fly across Hangyul’s face before it halts on a ‘help me what do I do now’ expression. 

Hangyul shakes his head exasperatedly in disbelief before lifting a jacket up to show Yohan, “You know that I can’t put these in the washing machine right? I’m going to have to hand wash them.”

“That’s why,” Yohan reasons, “I’ve been trying to tell you that you don’t need to put in the effort. I barely wear those anyways.”

Hangyul pouts and Yohan shuts up immediately.

“That’s not how it’s supposed to work. Because these are expensive, you should wear them more often so that the price is spread per wear.”

Decisively, Hangyul scoops up all of the piled up coats into his free arm so that he looks like a giant loaded hanger. He waddles to the door of Yohan’s apartment, but waits before leaving. 

Hangyul turns around to Yohan’s direction and offers another one of those breathtaking smiles that leaves Yohan speechless and dizzy, “Because I have to hand wash these, I won’t be back for long. Do some work, keep yourself busy, but keep the door unlocked! I’ll be back to cook you dinner later!”

It takes six hours for Yohan to binge watch a few episodes of his favorite drama, 45 minutes to drink an entire gallon of banana milk, and 10 minutes to forget what Hangyul heeded him earlier. 

When Yohan returns to his apartment after a short walk into the hallway to fill some water from the public water machine, he locks a door. A few days in isolation can really make a man go crazy, though he had always been a forgetful person.

Yohan, missing the usually omniscient presence of his best friend, dumbly makes the inference that Yohan had to figure out what to do about his dinner himself. That mere inference leaves Yohan in shambles. No, Yohan is not so reliant on other people’s cooking that he can’t prepare his own meal alone, that’s not the case. So Yohan totally does not call over a friend to help him.

Model Kim Wooseok arrives at Yohan’s apartment at 8:00 P.M to tell the younger to pour a bathtub of soy sauce on himself and absorb it. 

Yohan takes a break from the day and heads to the bathroom, not to actually follow Wooseok’s directions, but to wet his face in hopes to slightly wash away the salt Wooseok poured on his wounds.

When Yohan returns, the air is slightly colder than it was before as wind is pervading the hallways of his apartment. With the wind wafts over the heavy smell of green onion that Yohan assumes Wooseok stole out of his groceries. Thank god Yohan’s companion was not so much of a snob that he would let Yohan starve.

Yohan casually strolls into the kitchen with his hands clasped just in time to watch Hangyul perfectly flip an egg around on a heavy pan. What. Hangyul? Oh dear. He had forgotten about Hangyul.

“Wooseok!” Yohan yells to get the elder’s attention, “You let Hangyul inside?”

Wooseok’s annoyingly groomed eyebrow arches upwards as he answers plainly, “Hangyul let himself inside.”

“Ah no no,” Yohan shakes his head incredulously, “The kitchen! Ah, yes the kitchen. Not the house. How could you let him inside the kitchen? You should cook for the guest!”

Yohan attempts to touch Hangyul’s shoulder and guide him away but is met with a rather brash shrug. Hangyul has never acted so abrasive with him before. Please no, Yohan begs that Hangyul is not angry at him.

“You don’t want to eat my food?” Hangyul asks with the most disappointed eyes Yohan has ever seen and how do you fix a mess this big.

“That’s not what I was trying to say-”

On the sidelines Wooseok let out a loud snort. Wooseok’s words on a daily basis were mocking enough. This is just plain abuse.

“You’ve done enough damage Yohan. How could you treat a pure being like Hangyul so disrespectfully? And from what I’m seeing, Hangyul has been cooking for you for a while. Just leave and let us have our bonding time over what we can do and you can’t.”

And just like that, Yohan’s worst fears are brought to life. No, it’s no longer some wicked actor conspiring against Yohan through Hangyul, Yohan’s own close idol friend is doing so too.

* * *

4

Yohan starts to see Hangyul less and less where he would usually see the boy from that moment on. Even though Yohan had previously tried to placate himself with the fact that Hangyul would never backstab him, Yohan could feel his hope diminishing little by little. 

With his career on the line, more and more, Yohan spends his time ridding himself of stress by hitting the gym and working out his body. 

_ 20 kg weights  _ . Yohan doesn’t know what has been coming over him lately. He never really saw Hangyul as anything more than a bug that follows every meter his butt moves. Why does it matter so much now that he asserts his possession over a best friend he never bothered to call a best friend before?  _ 40 kg  _ . Yohan isn’t jealous of the other making headlines for being an idol magnet. If anything, Hangyul’s hard-work and determination allows him to deserve the attention.  _ 60  _ . 

He hadn’t even been lifting a fraction of what he usually does but the frustration building up in him from daily events has caused cold sweat to bead up at his forehead. Grimacing, Yohan wipes the liquid with the back of his hand before slapping himself in anger with the same hand.

‘Focus, focus, focus...’ he chants to himself like a mantra, but to no avail. Yohan is still worrying about what mischief Hangyul could be getting up to while Yohan is having his alone time.

Yohan lays on the leg press machine so he can wallow in his misery in the perfect fetus position. Burying his face in his hands, Yohan lets his mind play the memories of when he wasn’t so gifted.

The day Hangyul demonstrated that he trusted Yohan. They cuddled on the couch watching that week’s M Countdown episode after a taekwondo competition. Yohan nursed a grand trophy in his arms while Hangyul came home empty-handed, so Yohan felt like he couldn’t possibly reveal to Hangyul his secret without sounding too entitled. But when Yohan implied that he wanted to be ‘one of them’ while pointing at the television screen, Hangyul didn’t even blink. In return, Hangyul told Yohan a secret too. That he admired ‘them’ and would admire Yohan to the end of time no matter what path Yohan chose to take. That day, Yohan found out that Hangyul’s ideal type had the qualities of an idol- a  _ male  _ idol.

The day of Hangyul demonstrated that he supported Yohan. Yohan couldn’t even finish selling out a low-tier venue for his debut showcon, yet Hangyul came. And Hangyul spent the most amount of money out of any casual watcher, paying for both his and an accompanying friend’s VIP tickets. When they were alone, Yohan sulkingly told Hangyul that he didn’t have to pay so much when he could see Yohan whenever he wanted. Hangyul proceeded to buy all the merchandise he could. That day, Yohan found out that the friend Hangyul brought to his concert was a crush that crushed Hangyul’s heart.

It is all about Hangyul, Yohan comes to a consensus. Yohan doesn’t actually want Hangyul to stop hanging around other idols because it poses a hazard to Yohan’s well-being, but because he doesn’t want the younger to get hurt. Yohan wants to return the effort Hangyul spent on him in the form of overlooking Hangyul’s life like a guardian angel.

In a way, all of the idols Hangyul befriended are setting off flashing warning signs in Yohan’s head. Yohan had to ensure that none of them would break Hangyul apart the way Yohan had witnessed before and he did so by taking care of Hangyul.

Somewhere along the line, Yohan began to love the way Hangyul reacted to his protection too.

_ Oh no _ .

_ Oh no  _ , _ no  _ , _ no  _ .

Yohan releases all of the tension he had put in the leg press machine and lets the metal components crash against each other in a thunderous clank.

No.  _ He is not in love  _ .

“Mmmf-  _ fudge  _ ,” Yohan groans to himself.

How could he?

From a distance, someone shouts his name and Yohan turns around to see ballad singer Song Yuvin’s arm wrapped around the one person Yohan really couldn’t bear to face at the moment. 

So he runs.

Hastily picking up his gym bag, Yohan yells behind his shoulder, “Hey, Yuvin! Sorry, I can’t stay long! See you some other day?”

Yohan obviously wasn’t going to avoid Hangyul forever, but for one day, he needed some time to process his own thoughts.

* * *

5

Eventually, Yohan has to continue on with his life pretending that he hadn’t belatedly discovered that he harboured intense romantic feelings for his childhood friend. That’s the same thing he signed up for when he decided to leave Hangyul alone at school while he pursued a career as an idol. Yohan often lets his passion drive his actions and at the time, there was nothing he was more passionate about than the blinding flash of LED lights and deafening fan chants.

But just like most of his quixotic dreams, the LED lights turn off in the blink of an eye and the fans come to a unanimous silence. Then Yohan is being rushed off stage by a stage manager. His body is invaded by a crew of stylists ripping his shirt apart to replace with new ones for the next performance.

Yohan never understood the rush and panic of the backstage. He always managed to get ready a good ten minutes before he had to go on stage again so why make a fuss in the beginning? Trading one minute of discomfort for ten of comfort isn’t better than spending the entire time calmly. A makeup artist runs by and cuts his thought off to touch up his lips with pigment, so he awkwardly makes himself busy with fixing his in-ears, conveniently also blocking out the sound of the artist’s babbling.

A fellow performer is pushed into the same waiting area as Yohan and he can only look on in sympathy. Lee Woo the soloist. A surprisingly warm-hearted veteran that Yohan’s witnessed to have a knack for helping out new artists. Lee Woo seemed to have his own way of busying himself by watching the monitor of that’s live-streaming the current performance.

At a point Lee Woo finally notices Yohan and signals him over, mouthing something along the lines of ‘they lacerated your belly.’ What?

Yohan walks over to the monitor that the other is watching, playing with his in-ears just as a golden wolf pounces at the camera during the climax of the playing song. 

“Aww, he looks like a baby!” Lee Woo’s voice pierces Yohan’s unblocked ears.

Yohan begs to differ. That backup dancer looks like an absolute beast, not a baby. But it’s strange. It is unusual that the camera would be allowed to focus an entire screen on a backup dancer over the original performer unless the dancer is incredibly renowned. Yohan squints his eyes.

“He’s a newbie backup dancer that filled in last-minute for someone else. The camera man probably got mesmerized by his good looking face and forgot that they weren’t supposed to be filming him, but who can complain right? I get happy just by knowing that he’s happy to perform up there,” Lee Woo explains to Yohan having detected his confusion.

It takes Yohan a few seconds too long to realize that up there is Hangyul, his best friend and infatuation, dancing as if his life is on the line. Yohan never even knew that Hangyul wanted to be an idol- he didn’t even know that Hangyul could dance. That just adds on to the endless list of things that are endearing about Hangyul.

But then it hits. As open as Hangyul is, he always had that one or too suspicious silences that Yohan couldn’t ignore. The  _ School 2020  _ script incident- had Hangyul wanted to apply for the lead role but feared upsetting Yohan? Hangyul couldn’t stand having to compete against Yohan in Taekwondo, so much compete for a first prize at a music show. Yohan was so absorbed in his own crises that he failed to see that he was holding Hangyul back from reaching his full potential. Yohan thinks that he couldn’t be a more selfish friend.

Then, Yohan gets called up onstage to perform with a conflicted mind. He wins the first prize. Yohan cusses his large fanbase.

Yohan desperately tries to look around the performers at the venue during the encore to catch a certain pair of round shiny eyes. He is blessed by a glance at a brilliant smile on Hangyul’s face, and then cursed by Hangyul’s smiling face jumping into the arms of Lee Woo.

The two disappear backstage.

Yohan’s eyes widen and wake up instantaneously. He flees the stage abruptly, bolting through a changing room, knocking over a bottle of makeup remover but not bothering to clean it up for that’s the job of the makeup artists.

Yohan sprints to the parking lot in hopes to catch Hangyul and take him home, apologize for being a horrible person. Together, they would have silly conversations in Yohan’s car just like the old days. Hangyul would tell him that he did a great job and that Hangyul would always be Yohan’s number one fan.

Then Hangyul would reach into Yohan’s chest and capture his heart. 

And leave it out to get run over because the parking lot is empty.

Hangyul already left with Lee Woo.

Usually, Yohan would comfort himself with the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps that wasn’t Hangyul. Besides, Hangyul never said anything about venturing out to become a dancer. Yohan was just missing Hangyul too much and they’d reunite in Yohan’s apartment to prove that everything Yohan witnessed was just a hallucination.

Hangyul does reunite with Yohan in his apartment.

But not in a way that makes his heart skip a beat happily.

One letter is addressed to him by a magazine asking for Hangyul’s personal information because Hangyul has been chosen to be the face of the next magazine cover. Another letter is written by Hangyul himself.

_ Yah! Yohan-ah! Hangyullie is so proud of you for winning first place on today’s music show! Charismatic as expected! Hangyullie wants to tell you that he really wanted to congratulate you or send you hugs and kisses. Unfortunately, he has to go to Japan for a music festival so he left early. Yohan-ah, don’t miss me too much. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to support you to the fullest. I will work harder and bring you back gifts and wishes.  
_ _ -Hangyullie _

Yohan’s blood runs cold, words unsaid screaming inside his head.

* * *

6

And so begins Yohan’s seven days without Hangyul.

To be honest, Yohan has probably spent far more than seven days without seeing Hangyul at once before, but the conscious knowledge that he has yet to be able to clear the misunderstanding between him and his best friend gnaws at his core.

Management prepares a joint fansign for Yohan with idol Han Seungwoo because they had “similar startings” and had great ‘compatibility.’ Yohan quite likes the elder. He’s kind and always aware of the people around him, so when Yohan walks into the fansign looking absolutely drained of energy, all Seungwoo asks is, “Missing something?”

The face Yohan makes expresses something like ‘pained surprise,’ because his lips hurt too much from not moisturizing them properly for the past week that all of his expressions are somewhat strained. Seungwoo gives him an understanding nod and a cup of Americano.

_ Hangyul loves Americanos  _ .

The Americano thankfully lasts Yohan shaking hands with 4000 young girls, singing his latest songs, eating the bubbles that Seungwoo blows into his mouth, and more. Yet when the fansign is coming to an end, Yohan sheepishly asks Seungwoo if he can get his manager to refill Yohan’s cup of Americano. Even Yohan’s taste buds are missing Hangyul.

But like all dramas, everything goes wrong when the lead actor least needs it to go wrong and a giant fluff ball of a person carrying an entire bucket of flowers nearly burns, breaks, and crashes into Seungwoo while Seungwoo’s passing Yohan’s cup of coffee over.

Fluff ball gasps and exclaims in a deep husky voice, “I’m so sorry, boss!”

Screw Seungwoo for being perfect, not spilling the coffee over but catching the fluff ball in his arms. Screw Seungwoo for being handsome, attracting all of the fanboys. Screw Seungwoo for being Hangyul’s idol. 

Shyly, the fluff ball removes his hood and mask to reveal the one person that Yohan had been longing for the past week. Yohan almost can’t believe that he’s actually here. But then again, he’s here not to support Yohan.

“Seungwoo hyung! I know it took some time but I’m finally here! C-Could you sign my book and answer my question?” Hangyul rushes out of breath. Yohan briefly wonders when Hangyul got close enough to Seungwoo to call him hyung, but actually, Yohan’s not even that surprised anymore.

“Of course,” Seungwoo agrees, “but sit down first.”

“I have to stand because you are boss-”

Seungwoo gently hits Hangyul over the head, causing the younger to whine and rub it gingerly.

“Enough with that boss thing, just sit.”

Together Seungwoo and Hangyul sit down and barricade themselves in their own world and conversation. Yohan painfully notes that Hangyul has not spared him a single glance since the boy came tumbling into the fansign venue. At that point, Yohan doesn’t even care if he’s blatantly glaring holes into the back of Seungwoo’s head as Hangyul giggles and blushes at whatever flirtatious remarks Seungwoo’s spitting out. Yohan has the right to be upset.

The manager concedes that Hangyul’s time is up and urges Hangyul to move along while Yohan puts on his best angry face. One look at the smile lines wrinkling at the side of Hangyul’s eyes and Yohan loses his resolve.

He might as well start bawling in the middle of his fansign because he missed Hangyul that much.

Hangyul drags his giant bucket of flowers and promptly drops it onto Yohan’s lap. Yohan lets out a loud grunt the same time Hangyul’s sweet voice opens up to talk to him, “Yohan-ah. I came for you.”

Almost insecurely, Hangyul looks down at his now empty hands, “I didn’t bring anything else because I rushed too much.”

Yohan reaches out to lift Hangyul’s chin up and offers a smile. The way that Hangyul’s eyes refill with their usual optimism tells Yohan that their smiles mutually heal each other. There’s no meaning in playing angry, Yohan thinks, Hangyul’s happiness is the most important.

“But it’s okay because I can always see you some other time, right?”

Hangyul tries to cut their conversation short too soon, but he makes sure to leave Yohan a small crushed sticky note from inside Hangyul’s jacket pocket. By the end of the encounter, Yohan’s heart has completely mended.

_ Question for Yohan-ah:  
_ _ Eat dinner with me Friday? Just the two of us? In your apartment? I’ll make the food and preparations, just bring yourself. Looking forward! _

* * *

7

Friday is an efficient day. Yohan is practically buzzing around the film set but none of his coworkers question anything because Fridays are always frenzy days. There is no one who is n’t looking forward to anything whether it be as simple as a drink at the nearest bar or for Yohan, a heart-warming dinner with his one and only. Or something like his one and only. He can only dream that they’ll get to that point soon.

It’s only 5:30 P.M when the director yells cut and dismisses all of the actors and actresses. Yohan, having planned beforehand, barely had any belongings to clean up (the uniform he was wearing he’d probably just tell Hangyul to wash for him to bring back to work the next week) before he was grabbing his purse and flying towards his car. Something told him that Hangyul would appreciate seeing him early too.

It’s funny, the way that Yohan drives to a slow halt as he pulls into the underground parking lot of his apartment complex. Never had he been so nervous to enter his own house, checking over his appearance and fixing his hair at least three times in the mirror before leaving the elevator. The dynamic between Yohan and Hangyul had always been true to their words, so if Hangyul tells him not to bring anything extra, he won’t. The least Yohan can do is make himself presentable.

Taking one last deep breath, Yohan gets ahold of himself and unlocks his apartment door. 

Like a fantasy, Hangyul is there welcoming Yohan home surrounded by the whimsical smoke of warm ramen noodle condensation. 

“You’re early!” Hangyul exclaims, but Yohan doesn’t intend on replying.

Yohan engulfs Hangyul in a bear hug, drowning the shorter in warmth and honesty. 

Into Hangyul’s hair, Yohan whispers, “I missed you so much. You left too quick for me to even do this when you came to my fansign.”

Gently, Hangyul shakes his head to rid Yohan’s clinginess and pushes Yohan into a chair. Hangyul takes out a personal noodle pot that Yohan delightfully remembers Hangyul bought for him when Hangyul first found out how much his friend loved to eat noodles. Chewy noodles are carefully plopped into the pot, courtesy of Hangyul.

“Eat first. You must be hungry.”

“No!” Yohan begins blabbering, “We can talk and eat at the same time! I want to know everything that you’ve been up to the past- what was it- months that we haven’t seen each other!”

“It was, like, a week,” Hangyul says while filling Yohan’s pot with a fiery red broth that Yohan’s sure has to be spicy. 

However, Yohan doesn’t let his watering mouth shut him up, “The last time I saw you at that award show was two weeks ago and we didn’t even see each other that often before that! You don’t know how surprised I was to see you there.  _ And Hangyul  _ -”

Hangyul shivers and nearly drops his spoon hearing the change of tone in Yohan’s voice. A small splash of red soup cuts the room into a silence as Yohan and Hangyul come to a tense eye contact.

Lowly, barely above a whisper, Yohan speaks, but Hangyul can hear him clearly, “Why didn’t you ever tell me you wanted to become an idol? Was I stopping you or-  _ did you not trust me  _ ?”

Hangyul sighs in relief, calming down his nerves and sliding Yohan’s filled pot over, urging him to eat while Hangyul speaks. Yohan just stares perplexed.

“Oh  _ that  _ \- I thought that you were going to scold me or something,” Hangyul chuckles, “I never wanted to become an idol.”

Hangyul smiles a brilliantly humble smile. Looking closely at Hangyul’s slightly red and swollen nose and mouth having just been wiped clean of makeup, Yohan can feel Hangyul’s sincerity. He has never seen someone so naturally beautiful. And actually, seeing the side of Hangyul that is just a down-to-earth and carefree human just makes Yohan fall in love all over again.

“But I really enjoyed the experience of getting to know a lot of the people I grew idolizing,” then Hangyul blushes adorably, “I never thought I would get noticed by so many when I only wanted the attention of one.”

_ What  _ ? Yohan doesn’t know what that’s supposed to mean. 

Shyly, Hangyul ducks his head and passes Yohan a packet of vegetables for his ramen. And Yohan feels his heart about to beat out of his chest.

“I’m not good with words or public speaking, which is why I never aspired to be anything bigger than the behind-the-scenes dancer. Just read it. I don’t think my voice would be stable if I tried to say it myself.”

Indeed, Hangyul had customized the packaging of the add-ins to his ramen. Yohan tells himself that’s the most creative way anyone had ever confessed to him- if Hangyul was even confessing to him. Or was Yohan just getting his hopes up? Why are the noodles making him sweat so much?

_ Boyfriend my be please  _ .  _ You like really I  _ .

Okay.

_ Boyfriend my be please  _ .  _ You like really I  _ .

Right.

Yohan had to read over the text a third time to ensure that he was reading it right and that he hadn’t been spontaneously diagnosed with dyslexia. But he was so sure that he had just been reading lines for the latest drama just a day ago.

“Hangyul-ah,” Yohan lifts his head to see Hangyul whose face has turned as red as the soup of his noodles, “I’m really sorry, but I think you’re going to have to read this out for me either way.”

“What?” Hangyul squeaks and snatches away the packet in a second.

Yohan watches as pure terror fills Hangyul’s wide eyes. In his embarrassment, Hangyul can only flee away to under the dinner table, hitting his head with a loud slam on the way down. Yohan winces and quickly ducks himself to make sure that Hangyul was fine.

“Don’t.”

A pause.

“Yohan please don’t come down- I’m so mortified.”

Usually Yohan would be better at listening to Hangyul’s request but at the moment, he had something he wanted to find out for himself. So he crouches down and squeezes himself next to Hangyul under the table. 

Avoiding Yohan’s gaze, Hangyul asks, “Do you… really not understand what the packet says?”

Yohan pulls Hangyul into his arms and massages Hangyul’s bruised forehead, “I can pick out a few keywords and my heart’s telling me that it reads something along the lines of ‘I really like you, please be my boyfriend’.”

Hangyul whines and hides his face into Yohan’s neck while Yohan just chuckles. He’s so close yet so far.

“But Hangyul, I can never be sure unless you tell me yourself.”

A small vibration tickles over Yohan’s neck and he grins. Yohan feels like he just won the lottery.

“I’ve liked you for a long time a-and I really want you to be my boyfriend,” is what Hangyul stutters next to Yohan’s ear. Eventually, Yohan’s so elated that he can’t even come up with his own proper answer.

He peels Hangyul’s body off of his own so that they’re looking at each other face to face. Yohan brushes his thumb just slightly over Hangyul’s soft lips. Then, he leans in.

“Yohan-ah. The floor is dirty.”

Their noses touch.

“I don’t care.”

Hangyul’s hands rest at Yohan’s chest.

“Yohan-ah.”

Yohan pulls away in disbelief, “What now could you possibly be not okay with? Hangyullie, do you want your idol to kiss you or not?”

Hangyul blushes at his own pettiness but points at Yohan nevertheless, “You just ate spicy noodles.”

Yohan rolls his eyes but smiles endearingly. And like a firecracker, he crashes his lips into Hangyul’s regardless, when the younger least expects it.

* * *

Just because Yohan and Hangyul were officially a couple, Hangyul couldn't rid himself of the responsibilities he signed up for regarding taking care of Yohan. The next morning, Yohan finds himself waking up in confusion yet again, the incessant ringing of a doorbell wracking at his brain. When did people start using the doorbell again, didn’t they just knock twice and leave?

Yohan gets out of his bed in his naked glory and runs a lap around his entire apartment before stopping at the front door. Where was Hangyul? Yohan backtracks just to ensure that Hangyul is tucked in and still sleeping soundly in their bed. Yeah, their bed. Hangyul really should just officially live in his apartment. Yohan might just spend two extra seconds admiring how handsome Hangyul looks when he sleeps too.

Those two extra seconds are all he has though because he still needs to put a stop to the ringing doorbell.

Yohan opens up the door to… an entourage of men in black. Shoot. He’s about to be evicted before he could even move his boyfriend in.

“Who the fudge-”

“It’s your Seungwoo-hyung. Sorry we had to gear up like this, none of us wanted to be noticed by the media. I’m actually here to deliver a package.”

Six people is how many Yohan counts. 

Yohan covers up his unusually exposed body and yells, “Well that doesn’t explain why there are six of you here! Just drop the package and go!”

“Is Hangyul here?” a voice that Yohan promptly recognizes as Seungyoun’s questions, completely ignoring what Yohan had kindly asked of the entourage.

Fuming at the audacity of the annoying one to even say his glorious boyfriend’s name, Yohan screams, “Heck no! Get out!”

“Jeez you don’t have to be so angry. We just kind of need Hangyul’s permission to directly hand the package over to you,” Seungyoun retorts.

As always, Seungwoo the wise steps between the two bickering adults.

Seungwoo puts in Yohan’s hands a small pamphlet, “I think it’s a good idea that Yohan have this. If Hangyul gets angry, just tell him that Seungwoo-hyung gave it to you. Hangyul won’t argue against me.”

There goes Yohan’s respect for Seungwoo. What does ‘Hangyul won’t argue against me’ even mean?

Yohan roughly pulls the pamphlet and shuts the door against the entourage’s faces. Curiosity still manages to take over him though, so as he walks towards his cuddly boyfriend awaiting him in their bed, Yohan flips through the pages of the pamphlet.

~~Guide to Getting Your Idol to Notice You~~  
_ Seungwoo-Approved Guide to Getting Your Best Friend to Fall in Love With You _


	2. Chapter 2

~~_Guide to Getting Your Idol to Notice You  
_ ~~ _Seungwoo-Approved Guide to Getting Your Best Friend to Fall in Love With You (never ever do this again without approaching me first)_

* * *

“Hyung, I have a confession to make.”

This right here, is a boy that Seungyoun met a mere thirty minutes earlier, who helped brew what Seungyoun now knows as the best Americano he has ever tasted in his lifetime. Seungyoun had taken one mind blowing test sip of the heavenly drink before the boy offered to cap the coffee cup for Seungyoun and promptly spilled the entire drink on top of his own white button-up shirt.

Seungyoun had a deadline, a demo for an upcoming idol group due the next day- hence his search for coffee at the wee hours of the morning. He thought that bringing this boy he drenched in coffee (yes, the boy was technically his own culprit but Seungyoun still felt guilty) to his production studio would be the most efficient way to fix his problems and get back to work quickly. Yet now he’s also playing therapist and listening to what problems this boy may have.

“Go ahead, Hangyul, I’m listening.”

“Well you see,” Hangyul, now cleaned up and wearing one of Seungyoun’s spare sweaters, spins around in the studio’s swivel chair, “I think I’m genuinely in love with an idol and I don’t know what to do about it.”

Seungyoun’s heart stops for a moment and he clutches his chest, “O-oh, I’m flattered, but-”

“Why?” Hangyul big round eyes stare at Seungyoun’s, “Did you think that the idol was you because it’s not.”

Okay, great. Thankfully, Seungyoun is saved from having to give a horrible rejection speech, but his pride is slightly hurt for not being the apple of master coffee maker’s eye. He was also turned down in an awfully blunt manner.

“Ehrm,” Seungyoun coughs, “No, I didn’t think of anything like that. Please continue.”

“I was wondering if you could advise me on what to do!”

Seungyoun raises an eyebrow and laughs- he couldn’t even write a proper love song, so much give advice to a kid, “Me? You want _me_ to give you advice?”

Hangyul nods earnestly, “Yeah! You are an idol so you would know a little something about how relationships in the idol world works, right?”

“Right...” Seungyoun mumbles, but he really doesn’t believe what he’s saying. 

The closest thing Seungyoun has to a significant other is his mix board.

“Hyung, it’s okay if you don’t know how to answer my question. I don’t even need much, I think I’d be happy if he just glances at me for a second longer than he does other fans...” Hangyul trails off before picking himself back up and beaming at Seungyoun, “Actually, you must have other work to do! I should be off now-”

“No, no there’s no need-” something about Hangyul makes Seungyoun want to help the younger out, “You’re telling me that you’re still taking baby steps?”

Hangyul nods again and Seungyoun finds that the boy really looks like a puppy whenever he does so.

“Then I say that a good starting place is to get to know this idol. Through research and taking notes, you’ll get to know whether you are compatible or not. You’ll also become a superfan, and that is sure to make you stand out from other fans!”

Seungyoun talks trash and he’s well aware of it, but Hangyul’s eyes light up as if Seungyoun had just given him the cure to world hunger.

“That is genius!” Hangyul proceeds to take out a pen and a cute notebook from his backpack to jot Seungyoun’s words down.

“Why, aren’t _you_ prepared?” Seungyoun teases while looking at the boy fondly.

“No, not really,” Hangyul says and Seungyoun is almost surprised by his ability to write and speak simultaneously, “I always receive notebooks as gifts because I’m the ‘artistic friend’ and now I always have fresh ones hanging around in my bag- hey, could you sign this for me? I promise I’m not going to sell your signature… I just- you know… wanted to make this look official…”

Actually, Seungyoun went to sign the paper without a second thought because he didn’t even think that the younger had the heart to do anything malicious with his signature, especially judging by what the younger has already written down.

“No worries… Here, done,” Seungyoun takes a look at the clock that displays 3:00 A.M- they’ve been talking long enough to continue talking, “So, mind letting me know who this idol is?”

“Oh!” Hangyul blushes and bites his lips while taking back his notebook, “Umm, you probably have heard of him- I mean of course, because he’s famous- Kim Yohan, the main lead of _School 2020_ -”

Seungyoun cackles while clutching his stomach. He _definitely_ knows Kim Yohan. That lucky son of a gun managed to collect the most unique fanboy Seungyoun has ever met.

_Step 1: study him religiously  
_

_Signature: Seungyoun_

* * *

When Suwoong arrived at the site where they were passing out copies of the early stage _School 2020_ script, there was already another person there, taking the last copy. It probably was his own fault for deciding to go so late but Suwoong thought that no one would be interested in the scripts as it was nearly guaranteed that Kim Yohan was going to get the final role. Seeing the person who snatched away the final copy, Suwoong can understand why he would go for it regardless.

Handsome, charismatic, the person was confident enough to walk around bare-faced without a mask on.

The only strange part was that Suwoong didn’t recognize the person from anywhere. A breakout actor perhaps?

The two make eye contact and the stranger squeals, bowing immediately and apologizing for no apparent reason, “S-Suwoong sunbaenim! I’m so sorry, did you want this? Y-you can have it because I really don’t need it-”

“What’s your name?” Suwoong smiles, the boy’s demeanor was very different from his masculine face.

“M-me? I’m Hangyul.”

“Well, Hangyul, I think that you should definitely take the script because I can tell that you have a good shot at landing the role,” Suwoong says, rolling the script up and patting it firmly into Hangyul’s palm.

However, Hangyul waves his hands fervently, “Oh no! I think you’ve misunderstood. I don’t actually want to audition, I was just curious about the script content.”

 _Interesting_.

“You could say the same for me.”

As soon as Suwoong says that, a little shimmer gleams in Hangyul’s charming brown eyes.

“Suwoong sunbaenim! Let’s read the script together!”

They end up spending the night, laying on the floor of Suwoong’s room, murmuring nonsense about the _School 2020_ script.

“So you’re studying Kim Yohan,” Suwoong stares down at Hangyul who is working hard to take down notes in a handy notebook.

“Yup!” Hangyul chirps.

Suwoong tosses his head from side to side as if contemplating Hangyul’s words, and he does understand; Suwoong would love to make a living studying the life of Kim Yohan.

“But don’t you already _know_ him?”

“I guess,” Hangyul yawns, nearly dozing off as he flips the page of the script, “Over the past week I’ve learned that Yohan is not an early bird, hates doing laundry, can not make omelettes-”

“Hangyul. I mean to say that Kim Yohan has been calling your phone trying to reach out to you for the past few hours.”

“Can you give me advice on what I should do about my hopeless crush then, Suwoongie?” Hangyul whines, obviously having focused on the wrong part of Suwoong’s statement.

And the obvious answer is to pick up the darn phone.

So Suwoong replies, “You should make yourself his other half then. Help wake him up, do his laundry, and make him omelettes. Then he won’t be able to live without you.”

“Suwoongie. You. Are. The. Best,” Hangyul hands over the notebook he had been writing on, “Sign this for me please!”

“Sure.”

When Suwoong finishes signing, Hangyul has already passed out like a pig. Looking over at Hangyul’s phone that is still ringing incessantly, Suwoong thinks that he can have his fun with a certain Kim Yohan for a while.

_Step 2: service him religiously_

_Signature: Suwoong_

* * *

Wooseok was so impressed when he witnessed, with his naked eye, a boy literally breaking and entering Yohan’s apartment through the kitchen window that he couldn’t even bring himself to be shocked or alarmed.

Wooseok applauds with two loud claps, “That was magnificent! Mind letting me know how you managed to climb 6 floors of windows?”

The burglar (or what Wooseok guesses might be a burglar) jumps onto the kitchen counter and briefly looks like he’s about to scream before he shakily speaks, “Am I in the wrong house?”

“I don’t know man. Were you perhaps trying to rob Kim Yohan, because I can tell you now that there’s not much you’re going to find valuable in here.”

So perhaps Wooseok just exposed out his very famous friend’s address to some sasaeng, but Yohan really brought it upon himself. Yohan was being pretty pathetic earlier.

The boy looks slightly less spooked after hearing what Wooseok had to say but is still equally confused, “Um, I’m Hangyul and I’m… Yohan’s house maid! Yes! I need to make his dinner and I... could cook an extra portion for you too!”

What the heck was Wooseok called over for if Yohan already had a maid? To make a fool of himself? Despite these plaguing thoughts, Hangyul’s offer was one that Wooseok couldn’t turn down.

“You know what? That sounds delightful! Shoo, shoo, go cook.”

Clumsily, Hangyul stumbles down the counter he had been perched on before while Wooseok makes himself comfortable at a spot where he can observe the chef at ease. Hangyul tiptoes to the fridge and yanks it open. Wooseok giggles as Hangyul quite visibly deflates.

Empty. That is what the fridge looks like.

“Do not worry sir, I can still make something for you,” Hangyul determinedly says as he starts opening cupboards, scavenging for better ingredients.

It wasn’t that Wooseok doubted Hangyul’s abilities, he just found it amusing how Yohan really was living the life of a beggar.

“You don’t need to call me sir. I’m just Wooseok. Maybe you’d know that if Yohan would stop being a miser and actually buy one of my magazines,” Wooseok comments, examining his nails to fake nonchalance. 

“Oh! You’re a model!” Hangyul shouts.

There it is. The acknowledgement Wooseok was looking for. It’s enough to keep Wooseok silent for a couple moments until he once again becomes bored with watching Hangyul throw spoon after spoon after spoon of green onions into a large pot.

“So, do you have some sort of romantic feelings for Yohan,” Wooseok asks and Hangyul drops his entire bowl of chopped green onions into the pot.

“Oh, no! Wooseok why would you ask that?” Hangyul stares at his ruined concoction in distress before turning to Wooseok to ask the question that is truly causing him distress, “... Are my feelings really that obvious?”

Wooseok smirks. This story just keeps getting better. 

“No not at all. I just couldn’t think of a more plausible reason why you would put up with being Yohan’s slave. I’m betting that you’re not even getting paid for this.”

Hangyul pouts and oops, Wooseok could hear the sharpest corner of his icy cold heart melting.

“Then what do you suggest I should do Wooseok?”

“Since you asked so nicely, first: stop being a servant. Not only does it make you tired, it probably makes Yohan feel more like a plastic bag than he already does. Second: step into his shoes and think of what he would want in a partner. Probably someone who shares the same hobbies as him so they can enjoy activities together, right?”

And Wooseok sees the light bulb blink on in Hangyul’s head

“Wooseok, could you wait here a few seconds?”

Wooseok would have retorted with something witty about how he had nowhere else to go anyways but Hangyul bolts out of the kitchen at lightning speed and literally returns a few seconds later. He hands over a notebook with his head bowed down.

Reading the other pieces of ‘advice’ that Hangyul’s friends have given him regarding his love life, Wooseok thinks that a lot of people on earth are complete nincompoops.

_Step 3: become him… religiously(?)_

_Signature: Wooseok_

* * *

Yuvin started going to the gym often to prove the social stigma that ‘ballad singers can’t have guns’ wrong. It has become part of his lifestyle to go to the gym and all of the employees recognize him too- in fact, they hold him in pretty high regard. That means that they trust him with handling new customers too, apparent when he received a phone call asking him to help out a client that was struggling with 2 kg dumbbells on the second floor.

At first Yuvin thought that the employee tripped over his words and said 2 instead of 20.

However, there is very much a boy crying while trying to use 2 kg dumbbells. And Yuvin finds it cuter than he probably should.

Therefore, Yuvin is unable to stop his chatterbox mouth from teasing the boy, “Aww, what are you doing here crying like someone just broke your heart?”

Those were, unfortunately, the wrong words to say and the boy’s eyes water even more. Oh, shucks. Of course Yuvin should have remembered that one of the most popular reasons why people begin going to the gym is to recreate after recent breakups.

The boy’s lower lip begins to wobble and Yuvin panics.

“Hey, hey, hey, now- I’m sorry! Shhh… I shouldn’t have said that- it’s my fault... Aww, come here,” Yuvin placates as the boy willingly enters his embrace to sob.

“I-I thought that if I worked out th-then my crush would like me more b-but I can’t even do anything because I’m too d-dumb!”

At least it wasn’t an ex then, Yuvin thinks. Still, he’s confused as to how someone with the face of this young boy could have self-esteem issues and feel the need to change for an unconfirmed love interest. Yuvin pats the boy’ head gently, letting his hand fall down to the boy’s back to rub it comfortingly as well. He whispers sweet reassurances, a few ‘you’re so pretty’s and ‘you’re adorable’s (that he means with his entire heart), into the boy’s ear until he has calmed down. Only then does Yuvin ask for a name.

“Kim Yohan.”

Yuvin has to bite the inside of his cheek to keep himself from laughing and accidentally hurting the boy’s feelings, “Kim Yohan? As in Kim Yohan the actor?”

The boy nods innocently.

“Is that your crush's name?”

Another nod.

“I’m asking for your name, not your crush’s name.”

“Oh!” the boy flushes and this time Yuvin can tell it’s because of embarrassment rather than because he’s red from crying, “M-my name is Hangyul.”

“You know what, Hangyul? I’ll take you to Kim Yohan right now so that you two can have some quality time,” Yuvin says, wrapping an arm around Hangyul’s shoulder and leaving no space for argument.

Together they head down to the first floor of the gym where a certain Kim Yohan is. Or _was_ after he scampers away immediately as Yuvin and Hangyul enter his peripheral vision. Which is nothing short of awkward.

“Sorry Hangyul. Usually he doesn’t leave like that. As you can see, the problem with dating an idol is that they have sporadic schedules so you’ll never be sure when you can have alone time. Unless you become an idol too or somehow enter the same industry as him! Because then you’ll be the only face he sees everyday and he’ll, without a doubt, realize he’s in love with you,” Yuvin didn’t really expect his panicked rambling to spark any hope or inspiration inside Hangyul, but it does and Hangyul is handing him a booklet to sign the next second.

In one day, Yuvin has learned many things. The power of love, that Hangyul doesn’t like to head home early, and finally, that he doesn’t comfort well under pressure.

_Step 4: follow him religiously_

_Signature: Yuvin_

* * *

Rumor says that there’s a mysterious ace backup dancer present at _M Countdown_. 

The backup dancer has been the subject of every conversation Lee Woo has heard that day and it is driving him absolutely nuts. Soundcheck coordinators whispering how ‘Lee Hangyul sings as well as the artist he’s dancing for,’ cameramen acknowledging ‘Lee Hangyul’s spectacular stage presence,’ jealous dancers tattling about ‘Lee Hangyul having ulterior motives.’

“He’s trying to shortcut his way into the idol industry by being a backup dancer first, then getting scouted by an agency and debuting with an already established fanbase,” they say and it’s all so frustrating for Lee Woo.

It’s frustrating because Lee Hangyul is nothing like what people say.

Hangyul was blessed by natural talent, that much is true, but what he does with his talent is what counts. And what Lee Woo knows from his very brief conversation with Hangyul is that Hangyul wants to use his talent to give back to his parents, donate to social welfare, and apparently, get closer to idol Kim Yohan. 

“Hey there, Hangyul. What are you watching?”

They’re backstage together during Yohan’s performance, sticking to the monitor like bees to honey. 

Hangyul props his chin in his palm, fingers squishing his cheeks up so high that his eyes form crescents, and then he sighs in a haze, “I’m watching a shooting star...”

“Oh?” Lee Woo asks, intrigued by Hangyul’s daydreamer personality, “What are you wishing for while watching this shooting star?”

“More shooting stars...” Hangyul trails off deep into the horizon until he realizes where he is, jolting up and bowing in apology to Lee Woo, “Ah! Hello! I’m so sorry, Lee Woo sunbaenim!”

“Aww, you don’t need to say sorry! There’s nothing wrong with having a man to fancy every once in a while.”

Hangyul grins guiltily, revealing to Lee Woo a pair of endearingly crooked teeth. Lee Woo decides around then that he would do anything to protect that smile, but Hangyul’s eyes are widening comically and he’s trying to fight the smile off.

“Oh no! I wasn’t supposed to make it obvious that I liked him- wait- I mean-” Hangyul gives up on saving his reputation, slumping his shoulders and scratching his neck awkwardly.

“Don’t tell me...” Lee Woo starts, “the only reason you tried out as a backup dancer was to meet your celebrity crush? If the other dancers find out about this they’ll destroy you!”

“No!” Hangyul retorts, but he knows that the more that he denies, the less believable he is, “I have other priorities. I seriously swear.”

Completely disregarding Hangyul’s disclaimer, Lee Woo pats the boy’s back, “Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll capture his heart. If the other dancers try to attack you, I’ll be there to protect you. Although I can’t necessarily say the same for Yohan’s fans. Those girls can be crazy vicious. You should probably establish your dominance amongst them or something, make sure they know that you are Yohan’s number one fan.”

As Lee Woo continues his ramble, a coordinator ushers Hangyul onstage to fill in for a performance. Lee Woo is left alone with a notebook in his two hands.

Hurriedly, Lee Woo drops the notebook off on a table and brings his now empty hands to cup around his mouth and shouts, “Remember to smile, Hangyul! You’ll win the nation over!”

_Step 5: worship him RELIGIOUSLY_

_Signature: Lee Woo_

* * *

“Hi, this is Lee Hangyul and I have requests to make regarding my ticket for the upcoming fansign?”

“Hi Hangyul, this is Han Seungwoo-”

A gasp is elicited from the other side of the line.

“ _You’re the CEO of your own label?_ ”

Before anyone misunderstands, Seungwoo doesn’t spend all of his time tinkering with the CEO’s number just because he thinks it is fun (he has much more important things to do including attending his own fansign). When the CEO is a lazy bum and entrusts Seungwoo with the telephone during long coffee breaks, Seungwoo is bound to get a bit wild.

“No, no. I just like to hear my fans’ voices from time to time,” Seungwoo says and he’s technically not lying.

Hangyul makes a muffled sound as if he’s trying to hold back a giggle, “But do you tell every one of them that? Do you introduce yourself as Han Seungwoo?”

Seungwoo coughs, “No, because I’m not supposed to-”

“Okay boss.”

For a while Seungwoo doesn’t get it. Until he figures that Hangyul is both mocking him and helping to hide his identity by vocally calling him a CEO.

“Please don’t call me that.”

“But boss-”

“Shh- yes I know, but be quiet. I have a lot of dirt on you Hangyul who is a friend of Kim Yohan, so don’t push my buttons.”

There is a pause on the other side of the line and Seungwoo imagines that he must have said something extremely surprising to the younger. Or maybe he just shouldn’t have ratted out his fellow idols' feelings about his best friend to said best friend.

“I didn’t know that Yohan talked about me,” Hangyul says self-consciously, “and if he did, I always hoped that he would have good things to say… and not bad.”

Hangyul seems awfully upset about Yohan gossiping about him- not that it actually happened; in fact, Seungwoo realizes that all the information he ever got from Yohan was that Hangyul was the humblest, most pleasant angel to exist on the face of earth. But Seungwoo connected the dots. There was something deeper between the two best friends than Seungwoo originally thought.

“I’m just teasing you Hangyul. Let’s go back to the request you had before, alright?”

“ _You would help me with that?_ ”

Seungwoo laughs. It’s insanely funny how shocked Hangyul is when reacting to everything he says.

“Yes, I will always help a friend of a friend.”

“Okay, well- I’m currently in Japan so I won’t be able to make it to the fansign on time, but I already spent all of my money on the tickets and I really want to surprise Yohan so could you please, please, pretty please, convince the guards to make one tiny exception and let me in late?”

After the phone call ends, Seungwoo saves Hangyul’s number, anticipating that they’d talk more before meeting in person. Seungwoo genuinely enjoyed talking with Hangyul.

Therefore, Seungwoo is slightly buzzing with excitement on the day of the fansign. Yohan never showed him pictures of Hangyul and Seungwoo didn’t want to seem too forward by directly asking for them from the boy so he had to sit waiting with no idea what Hangyul looked like.

“C-Could you sign my book and answer my question?” Hangyul comes bumbling into the venue out of breath and face pink. 

“Of course, but sit down first.”

“I have to stand because you are boss-”

Seungwoo gently hits Hangyul over the head, causing the younger to whine and rub it gingerly.

“Enough with that boss thing, just sit.”

What does Hangyul look like? The answer is that Hangyul is cute. Incredibly cute. And Seungwoo makes sure that Hangyul is aware of that.

“Nice to finally see you, Hangyul. Aren’t you adorable?”

Hangyul ducks his head and chews his lip to keep himself from smiling too much.

“What’s that?” Seungwoo questions, “You like it when I compliment you? Pretty boy?”

Alas, Hangyul can’t help but show his pearly whites, mouth curving up into something that resembles a grin but equally resembles a grimace. Hangyul slides over the table, a well preserved notebook that Seungwoo assumes is one of Hangyul’s most valuable treasures- understandable that he’d want something precious to be engraved by an idol’s signature.

Seungwoo opens the notebook carefully and reads the question: _how do you get your idol to notice you?_

Seungwoo raises his eyes to look into Hangyul’s, “You want me to answer this?”

Hangyul nods his head.

“And what are the words written here? Study him religiously-”

“Shh!” Hangyul glances to the right to ensure that Yohan is not eavesdropping, “Those are just the answers other idols gave to me.”

The entire time, Seungwoo had thought that he was Yohan and Hangyul’s love consultant or advisor, but the two were shameless about their feelings. The only objects sabotaging their relationship were other brainless idols. Seungwoo can only heave a heavy breath and start aggressively crossing out ink on Hangyul’s notebook.

_Step 6: Just be yourself and confess! (do NOT listen to any of these other MORONS)_

_Signature: Seungwoo-hyung_

* * *

Yohan stares at the blank number seven with a fond smile on his face. Perhaps Seungwoo had handed this guide to him as a plea to forgive Hangyul for leaving him to wallow in his own feelings for too long. Deep down, Yohan knows that he had already forgiven Hangyul when he first acknowledged his love for his best friend. Yohan makes sure to plant a quick peck on the still sleeping Hangyul's face before writing in his distinctive chicken scratch.

_Step 7: realize that he’s been in love with you the whole time_

_Signature: Yohan ♡_

**Author's Note:**

> AHHH I FINALLY FINISHED. Thank you for reading (if you made it to the end) and I really hope you enjoyed this fluffy Yohangyul!  
> Come talk to me and be my friend (just don't come for love advice because, as you can tell from this fic, I won't be able to help you).
> 
> My Twitter: [adalheidishere](https://twitter.com/adalheidishere)  
> My CC: [adalheidishere](https://curiouscat.me/adalheidishere)


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